Corn and spinach are good companions. The spinach likes a cooler lifestyle so it's planted early in the year. Once the spinach is established the corn is planted close by to ward off pests and shield the spinach on the hot days. As the corn grows you just keep planting spinach and it keeps the roots of the corn strong and moist. These vegetables are completely different but work in harmony.">

Corn and spinach are good companions. The spinach likes a cooler lifestyle so it's planted early in the year. Once the spinach is established the corn is planted close by to ward off pests and shield the spinach on the hot days. As the corn grows you just keep planting spinach and it keeps the roots of the corn strong and moist. These vegetables are completely different but work in harmony.

I was watching an episode of Little House the other day. (Don’t make fun…there is so good stuff in there). Albert Ingels was apprenticing with an old Jewish carpenter. The man was alone in his faith in Walnut Grove, but he shared some wisdom with Albert that I tucked away for future reference.

“It is forbidden to avert one's eyes from someone in need, and help should be given in the way that most preserves the dignity of the individual receiving the charity.”

Shortly after my last article, I found a man with a shovel! (Not that he was lost.) And he is using my shovel - but we have found a system that just might work. It is kind of like the hired hand of the WILD WILD WEST, if he’s hungry, we swap food for work. I am not quite sure who is on the receiving end of this charity but everyone seems quite pleased with the arrangement and it just sorta happened.

Our house is a patchwork quilt type home. Originally, (back in eighteen something or other) there existed a log house where the dining room and living room stand today. Each room was added on over time. The back back room (no that is not a double word typo). There is the back room, and the room behind that room that leads to the outside. That room is now well on it’s way to being a south facing greenhouse.

I have tried several gardens before. Most ended in disaster. Back when I tried raised beds; we had a yard full of little grave plots, it was definitely creepy looking. But I dug the holes, plunked those veggie babies in the ground and watered and waited…. got bored….got busy and then got what I put into it.

This time I have a lot more help to battle the bugs and the weeds that never seem to stop coming.

Gardening books currently cover my coffee table. The graph paper is out; it is past time to commence planning. I have learned that I should have started the pepper seeds two weeks ago and that they like a consistent temperature of 85°F. This is virtually impossible in the back back room…so peppers are not for me.

Companion planting is apparently the way to go. The concept is; that if you plant the heavy feeders with the light feeders then the soil will work to produce maximum return for minimal space. Planting this way is supposed to deter pests as well. Using the companion method confuses the bugs as to the location of their favorite munch. Eventually it becomes too much effort and they leave.

Botany is a science that at its foundation is pretty basic. But I could fill a warehouse with the things I don’t know on the subject. It’s good to be educated when it comes to creation’s goodness, because poorly tended crops can cause sickness and that certainly defeats the purpose of a home garden.

My grade will be determined by the harvest. It’s pass or fail. The fruits of my labor will show another year of meager efforts or the dream of plenty. The enemies are relentless but if the soil is right everything should grow according to my plan.

At harvest time there are all kinds of festivals going on. In the local papers there are announcements all summer for people to come and celebrate the harvest. There are strawberry socials, grape festivals and corn roasts BUT when was the last time you ever heard of spinach festival? Well we can’t all be corn. Spinach may not be bringing out the masses but corn cannot compete with spinach’s powerful nutritional value.

The Bible speaks a lot about the garden and how it mirrors life. Oftentimes we are like a plant, clueless of our benefits to one another but fortunately for us the Gardener knows.

I never would have thought spinach and corn worked well together but I as I dug a little deeper it makes perfect sense.